Iraq Study Group: Sir, you’ve totally screwed the pooch on this one, so here are some things you can do to get out of this war with some serious cover. It’ll limit casualties, and maybe even help save your legacy a little bit.

Bush: Yeah, about that. I know that was pretty much the whole point of your little study and stuff, but I’m not so much going to listen to anything you suggested as I am going to do the complete opposite. See, I’m the decider. That means that I get to decide what to do, and I don’t have to listen to anyone else if I don’t want to. That’s what deciders do: they decide. Mission Accomplished. God bless me. Uh, I mean, America. Yeah, God bless America. Heh. Heh.

There is a mandate out there to bring the troops home and abandon the conflict in Iraq. The war was over when Saddam was toppled, and the current conflict cannot be won. It can’t be won because it’s a conflict that existed before we got there, and will exist after we leave. It’s a conflict between groups living within the borders of Iraq, a country created by men who never lived there, men who just drew what was essentially random lines on a map. (incidentally, this is the precise reason cited by George H.W. Bush when asked why he did not remove Saddam Hussein. The foregone conclusion that this would lead to a bloody civil war) These people are going to keep fighting until they learn to live together, and no amount of external pressure will make this come about.

The Decider just doesn’t realize that he’s about to become less popular than Nixon if he doesn’t change course, and soon.